READING Borough Council has revealed proposals to revitalise the town’s cultural offering by transforming the Hexagon Theatre and building a new Central Library.
The plans were released on Tuesday, June 28, and the council is now set to submit a £20 million bid to the Government for “Levelling Up” funding.
Cllr Jason Brock, leader of Reading Borough Council, said: “Both the Hexagon Theatre and Reading Central Library are major institutions in our town which continue to be very well-used and extremely popular.
“I think most people would agree with me, however, when I say that both buildings are dated and present limitations to improving our future cultural and learning offer to local residents.
“If we are successful in our bid, it will offer us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalise and breathe new life into the cultural and learning offer in this part of Reading.”
The council’s bid is made up of an £8 million investment to rebuild the Central Library at the Council’s Civic Offices in Bridge Street.
This would involve a brand-new custom-built Central Library, added to the current Civic Offices site, which would create a “modern and open space, offering a much-improved, accessible environment for everyone”.
The council’s ambition is to to create a flexible space for the whole community that embraces traditional book loans and looks to the future with digital and learning offerings.
A further £12 million investment would revitalise the Hexagon Theatre to create an “attractive, flexible and exciting new space for performances and community use”.
The proposal is to extend to the right-hand side of the existing building, with an entrance directly off Queens Walk, offering improved accessibility and new multi-function community space that can accommodate a wider variety of performances and uses.
If the council’s bid is successful, this will form the first phase of a longer-term regeneration of the Hexagon.
The Hexagon development feeds into the council’s wider plans to create the “Minster Quarter”, transforming an area of the town centre by building hundreds of new homes.
Both proposals focus on improved sustainability as part of the council’s commitment to working towards a net-zero carbon Reading by 2030.
The council’s bid is to the government’s Round 2 Levelling Up Fund and, if successful, would be match-funded 10% by the council from its own capital investment fund.
A bid is set to be submitted in July, with news of whether it has been successful expected in autumn 2022.
